October 13, 2007

Site: Terre Haute, Ind. (LaVern Gibson Championship Course)
Meet: NCAA Pre-Nationals (8,000 meters)
U-M Finish: 4th Place of 40 Teams (208)
Top U-M Individual: Mike Woods, 7th (23:24.7)
Next Meet: Friday, Oct. 19 -- at EMU Classic (Dexter, Mich.), 4:00 p.m.

Woods Leads U-M to Fourth Place at Pre-Nationals



TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Senior captain Mike Woods (Ottawa, Ontario/Hillcrest HS) claimed seventh place (23:24.7) to lead the No. 18-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team to fourth place (208 points) in the White Division at NCAA Pre-Nationals Saturday (Oct. 13) at Indiana State's LaVern Gibson Championship Course.

Woods ran strong from the gun, hanging among the top-30 pack through the opening mile. The field began to string out at 5,000 meters into a lead pack. Woods kept pace with Notre Dame's top runner, Patrick Smyth, for the final 1,000 meters as they chased the leaders, who held a 20-second advantage on the rest of the field.

With junior Lex Williams (Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter HS), one of the top Wolverine runners, out for health reasons, Woods was not the only Wolverine to step up to the challenge. Junior/sophomore Sean McNamara (Elmhurst, Ill./York HS) posted a solid run, finishing 28th with a time of 23:48.8.

Rounding out the rest of the Wolverines' scoring runners were junior/sophomore Brandon Fellows (Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island HS), sophomore/freshman Ciaran O'Lionaird (Cork, Ireland/De La Salle HS) and senior/junior Victor Gras (Belmont, Mass./Belmont HS), who placed 48th, 58th and 67th, respectively. Fellows' time of 24:03.1 was more than 20 seconds better then his mark at Pre-Nationals last season. O'Lionaird posted a career day, crossing the finish line at 24:09.3. Gras recorded a time of 24:14.3, topping his personal best at Pre-Nationals by 18 seconds.

Four other Wolverines competed in the 8,000-meter open race, with two finishing in the top-10. Junior Tony Nalli (Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter HS) crossed the finish line third (24:41.1) and was followed by sophomore/freshman Peter Christmas (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) in eighth with a time of 24:51.0.

The Wolverines will wrap up regular-season competition with their final tuneup prior to the postseason Friday (Oct. 19) at the EMU Classic in Dexter, Mich. The 8,000-meter race is slated for a 4 p.m. start at Hudson Mills Metropark.




Michigan State placed 23rd, FYI.

Obviously this proves Michigan's dominance.

Call me bukdow, but why not look at the Director's Cup, which identifies the best universities over all sports.

Year First Second Third Fourth Fifth
1993-94 North Carolina Stanford UCLA Florida Penn State
1994-95 Stanford North Carolina UCLA Arizona Florida
1995-96 Stanford UCLA Florida Texas Michigan
1996-97 Stanford North Carolina UCLA Nebraska Florida
1997-98 Stanford (tie) North Carolina, Florida UCLA Michigan
1998-99 Stanford Georgia Penn State Florida UCLA
1999-00 Stanford UCLA Michigan Penn State North Carolina
2000-01 Stanford UCLA Georgia Michigan Arizona
2001-02 Stanford Texas Florida North Carolina UCLA
2002-03 Stanford Texas Ohio State Michigan Penn State
2003-04 Stanford Michigan UCLA Ohio State Georgia
2004-05 Stanford Texas UCLA Michigan Duke
2005-06 Stanford UCLA Texas North Carolina Florida
2006-07 Stanford UCLA North Carolina Michigan USC



There was also a US News and World Report ranking of the top 20 academic + athletic programs as discussed in the following article:


March 12, 2002

Lehigh University has joined college athletics superstars Duke, Stanford, Princeton, Georgetown, Boston College and others in the inaugural U.S. News and World Report's "College Sports Honor Roll" released today, March 11, 2002. The honor roll recognizes 20 schools with the best overall rankings across four categories of achievement: graduation rates, number of sports programs offered, gender equity, and win/loss records. Lehigh ranked first in the graduation rates category.

The top 20 institutions, listed alphabetically, include: Boston College, Brown University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Lehigh University, Penn State University, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Connecticut, University of Hawaii-Manoa, University of Illinois, University of Maryland, University of Massachusetts, University of Michigan, University of New Hampshire, University of Utah, and Villanova University.

"The schools that are listed represent some of the best athletics operations in the nation, so we are pleased to be included among them," said Lehigh director of athletics Joe Sterrett. "Although statistics and rankings can sometimes tell less than the whole story, this analysis seems to identify the key areas for measuring athletics programs. Do we graduate our kids? Do we play by the rules and are we equitable? Do we offer a full complement of sports? And perhaps the most likely of questions, do we achieve success?

[URL=]http://patriotleague.cstv.com/genrel/031202aaa.html (]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NACDA_Director%27s_Cup[/URL)

Great thread Mo, I look forward to the discussion.

Bump.